There is obviously some intention in T&C to catch Americans. The last guy was getting onto a cruise ship. We've done a bunch of cruises, including just this month. Normally there is zero inspection on the way off or back onto the ship. At most there is a very cursory peek into backpacks for food coming on shore, and I can only recall once having any look in my day pack going back to the ship, and again it was just very cursory.

This last case is making all the cruise information channels with warnings about contraband.

What the root reason is for doing this in T&C, I have no idea. But it does reinforce my resolve to never go there.

quote:

What the root reason is for doing this in T&C, I have no idea. But it does reinforce my resolve to never go there.

I've seen the speculation about money, but you don't have to be an economist to figure out that the negative impact of even a few people per week changing plans to avoid T&C is WAY more impactful than any fines they're going to see. And jail - that ain't free either so financially this is a stupid move.

I don't believe any of the conspiracy BS either, but someone in T&C leadership has seemingly a serious hard-on for attacking Americans and making examples of them it seems. Reasons unclear I'd say. Actual reasons.

quote:

There is obviously some intention in T&C to catch Americans. The last guy was getting onto a cruise ship.

If he was actually up the gang plank & onboard the cruise ship with his stuff going through the cruise ship's x-ray machine, is the cruise line turning people over to the T&C police if they find 'contraband'? Or are the T&C customs/police running a search on the dock just prior to boarding?

It would be nice if we used a naval task force to get the Americans out of this "island paradise". But protecting Americans from draconian punishments for minor crimes in foreign countries seems to be out of style, lets try this:
Prohibit Americans from traveling there. Like we once did with the Cubans. Let their tourism economy take the hit.

quote:

Let their tourism economy take the hit.

Absolutely!

^^^ Wow.

Screw that little nothing so-called "country."

quote:

Originally posted by mike28w:
I wonder how this tiny banana republic wanna-be would react if they stated receiving anonymous packages that contain just 1 single 22 LR cartdridge....what about empties ??

address?

Insanity.

quote:

Originally posted by Ironmike57:
https://www.nbcboston.com/inve...law-arrests/3369195/

WOW Royal Caribbean security found the bullets upon reboarding and turned their own passenger over to TCI police? Screw Royal Caribbean cruise line!

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:

quote:

Originally posted by mike28w:
I wonder how this tiny banana republic wanna-be would react if they stated receiving anonymous packages that contain just 1 single 22 LR cartdridge....what about empties ??

address?

If you really want to be that damn foolish in public, do it elsewhere. No, I don't think you would actually do something like that, but you are playing with fire, suggesting publicly that you might do something like that. This is not the way to obtain satisfaction in this matter.

What we can do is to make as many Americans as possible aware of that country's attitude towards us.

To that end, read my previous comments in this thread. I'll be having a phone call with Dave tomorrow and I will have additional information of things now going on behind the scenes, and we will begin to move forward with efforts to get the word out. Many people will be indifferent, and with the screwed-up nature of the world as it is these days, apathy about this is not surprising.

If the attitudes of the authorities in T&C bother you and you feel compelled to do something, spread the word. Tell your family and your friends and ask them to tell their friends. If appropriate, mention this matter on other websites if you can, and ask people on this sites to spread the word.

One ripple in the pond may reach someone who might otherwise make a life-changing mistake. Make as many ripples as you can. Tourism is the life's blood of T&C, and Americans constitute the majority of that tourism.

These foreign imprisonments have happened to some of our friends here and upended their lives for a time, and so, we feel it at a deeper level than merely reading about these injustices, so, when they keep happening, we feel them deeply and have an understanding of what our fellow Americans are going through, better than others. We can use this as impetus to spread the word.

More to come

We made a cruise stop in T&C in March. Didn't get off of the boat. Not because of the ammunition issues, although I was cognizant of them. Mainly because I'm a old white bald guy and getting sun scorched on that treeless sandbar just didn't look like fun.

Fifth. I assume that's the same woman posted about on May 15, who's details weren't given.

Mike Evans mentioned in this FoxNews article:

Virginia father detained in Turks and Caicos for stray ammo pleads guilty

A Virginia man has pleaded guilty to one count of possession of ammunition in Turks and Caicos (TCI) after airport security found stray bullets in his luggage as he prepared to fly home last month.

Five Americans have been arrested and detained since February for possessing ammunition on the islands under a new ordinance that requires both residents and tourists to face a minimum 12-year sentence for possessing ammunition. At least three of those Americans have told Fox News Digital they did not realize they had ammunition in their bags in the first place.

Tyler Wenrich, a husband and father to a 1-year-old son, was initially arrested on April 20 following a wedding party in TCI and pleaded guilty in court on Monday, when both prosecutors and his defense team presented oral arguments, he told Fox News Digital.

He is expecting his sentencing hearing to be scheduled within the next week.

Wenrich flew from Virginia to Florida, where he boarded a Royal Caribbean cruise for the wedding party, all without the bullets being detected, his father, Michael Wenrich, previously told Fox News Digital. The cruise docked, and the party spent some time in Grand Turk before Wenrich was eventually detained when he was caught with two stray bullets in his bag while returning home.

Wenrich's plea comes a day after a bipartisan congressional delegation visited TCI to ask government leaders to release the Americans detained for having stray ammo in their bags.

The latest arrest came on May 15 when authorities took Sharitta Grier, a mother from Florida, into custody. The others include Ryan Watson of Oklahoma, Bryan Hagerich of Pennsylvania and Michael Lee Evans of Texas.


Five Americans have been arrested in Turks and Caicos since February for carrying ammo in airports on the island.
From left: Michael Lee Evans (no photo), Bryan Hagerich, Tyler Wenrich, Ryan Watson and Sharitta Grier

"The U.S. delegation raised five cases of US nationals currently before the courts, concern for their well-being and clarification on the legal process," the TCI Governor's Office said in a Monday statement. "In order to maintain the integrity of the legal process, the Governor confirmed it would not be appropriate to facilitate the delegation’s request to meet with the Chief Justice."

The governor and the premier also said "they cannot intervene nor comment on ongoing legal cases before the courts," the statement continued. "They explained that the Turks and Caicos Islands have clear laws prohibiting the possession of firearms and/or ammunition and strict penalties are in place to serve and protect all who reside and visit the Turks and Caicos Islands."


A bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation visited TCI officials on Monday to discuss the arrests
of five Americans over an ammunition possession law.

Last week, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin sent a letter to Turks and Caicos Gov. Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam to urge the release of Watson, Hagerich and Wenrich.

"Like thousands of Americans each year, these individuals traveled to your beautiful territory recently for leisure," the governors wrote in a joint letter shared with Fox News Digital. "They have all maintained that they did not intend to bring ammunition into Turks and Caicos, and any ammunition unknowingly left in their luggage was the result of lawful conduct in the United States. We understand that none of them were carrying firearms."

The State Department recently issued a PSA on X saying that Americans "can be arrested for having any ammunition, even a single stray shell or casing" in many countries. The department prompted travelers to check pockets and "every nook and cranny" of suitcases "before traveling to avoid running into problems overseas."

If simply small quantities of ammo or spent casings, better to "confiscate" ammo, and let the tourists go about their business.

If they didn't hate Americans, that's what they would do.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
<<snip>>
If the attitudes of the authorities in T&C bother you and you feel compelled to do something, spread the word. Tell your family and your friends and ask them to tell their friends. <<snip>>

I have been doing exactly that via FarceBook (yeah, I know... I know). So far I haven't been censored, so will keep spreading the news as much as I possibly can!

I just wish I was up-to-date on website creation and maintenance so I could help out your endeavor. My website days ended nearly 20 years ago with Dreamweaver being the last website creation app that I used. Most don't seem to even use HTML anymore... or at least that's what I gather!

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
If they didn't hate Americans, that's what they would do.

It's not just Americans that this happens to, it's just the Americans that get arrested and prosecuted. That is fact.

"anti-American bias"

Video from FoxNews but it won't embed:

Lawmakers lobby for Americans' release